This was suppose to be a surprise birthday gift for my wife, and how disappointing (and embarassing) it was when the swing arrived damaged. It was as if it had been returned by someone else and repackaged. Several painted areas were worn and scrapped.

Although the customer service dept did provide the option to return or receive a discount, I should have returned it.

Upon hanging, I discovered that not only are the chains too short (the swing sits ~3 feet off the ground), there are no instructions included. The only paper included in the packaging lists all the parts, but it is difficult to read since it looks like a copy of a copy of a copy...

There's more...it also appears that the hooks that attach to the swing are not equally placed on both sides of the swing. So your measurements for all the ceiling hooks can be perfect, but it will still not be parallel to the wall.

I'm curious how this got listed on PorchSwings as a "Best Seller". You pay for what you get.

I would not recommend porchswings.com to anyone. They will not ship items to you as they promise. They will not answer phone calls (or you have to wait on the phone for long periods of time), they will not answer e-mails, They will take your money as soon as the order is placed but they will not deliver. I ordered some items from them over a month ago and still do not have them. Every time I call them they say my order has been shipped but will not provide me a tracking number.Stay away from them.

The swing I ordered from http://www.porchswings.com was flimsy, even though the description on the website said it was a sturdy swing. I was worried about this because, to be honest, my wife and I are a little on the heavy side. I ultimately returned the swing to them and got my money back (minus shipping, of course). I found another web site (www.porchswings.us) that offered sturdier looking swings and I bought one. The guy makes them himself, and I don't think you could break this swing if you tried! I would not recommend porchswings.com to anyone.

I ordered an in-stock porch swing on 3/10/07. As of today (4/17/07), I still do not have all the parts. While this is not entirely porchswings.com's fault, their poor customer service processes have made the experience frustrating.

To recap: The first porch swing was shipped on 3/20/07 (and billed to my credit card on 3/12/07) and I used the shipment tracker to follow its progress. On the day it was to be delivered, the shipper noted on the tracker that it was damaged in transit and needed to be returned to the vendor. No one from porchswings.com or the shipper notified me directly. Several days later, I finally called porchswings.com and inquired about the status. After the customer service rep looked up the tracking info, he told me that it had been damaged and returned to the vendor, that the model was temporarily out-of-stock, and that it would be several weeks before a replacement could be sent. When the damaged swing reached the vendor (4/3/07), I got an automated "Your PorchSwings.com Order Has Arrived!" message. I responded to it and asked if there was any word on when my replacement would arrive. There was no response. On 4/12/07, a NetShops.com employee sent me a message asking me to reship a replacement item. I responded to it and noted that I was not the vendor, explaining the process so far, and asking when I would get my swing. He responded the same day and apologized for emailing me rather than the vendor. The replacement swing was shipped on 4/12/07 and arrived 4/14/07. The box was badly damaged with several gaping holes, with some attempt to repair them with tape. When opened, the swing itself was mostly unscathed, but there was no contents list, no assembly instructions, and no assembly hardware or hanging chain. (Presumably all of this fell out of a hole somewhere in route.) I emailed porchswings.com the same day but never got a response. Today (4/17/07) I called them and was told that they would contact the vendor and have replacement parts sent.

At no point during this process has any porchswings.com employee made any more than a passing "Sorry about that" comment. They frequently reference "the vendor" as if it is all the vendor's fault. It may be, but I paid several hundred dollars to porchswings.com and have gotten very little in the way of customer service. At this point, I wish I had simply driven to a local garden center and bought a porch swing.